June 26, 2023 • 25 mins
In this episode of the Community Check-In, host Joe Lomonaco welcomes Dr. Jeffrey Hopkins, senior medical director of behavioral health at Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, to discuss the issue of employee burnout. Remote work has brought about significant shifts in work environments, schedules, and routines, leading to increased stress levels and burnout. Dr. Hopkins provides insights on the signs and symptoms of burnout and discusses how employers are responding to this issue and implementing strategies to support their workforce's well-being and create a healthier work culture.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
Welcome to excel Us Blue Cross BlueShields Community check In. Each week we
cover a specific topic featuring excel UsBlue Cross Blue Shield experts. You'll get
to know our team as we discussthe latest in healthcare, health education,
and community health. Find us atexcel Us BCBS dot com and follow on
(00:25):
Instagram and Facebook. Hi, I'mJoelomonico and welcome to the check In.
The COVID nineteen pandemic triggered one ofthe most significant changes to the workforce of
our country in generations. Not justour country or the world. Really,
it shifted the workplace for many ofus from an office or a conference room
to a living room or a diningroom, and it all practically happened overnight.
(00:49):
Change of any kind can bring onstress, and if you don't recognize
it, you can lead to gettingburned out. In fact, a recent
study by the employment website Indeed foundthat two thirds of workers Serve said the
pandemic has worsened employee burnout. Withus today and we're pleasure and please add
him back is doctor Jeffrey Hopkins,who's a senior medical director Behavioral Health at
Excelist Blue Cross Blue Shield and doctorHopkins regularly lectures on the topic of employee
(01:14):
burnout at industry forums and gets himselfinvolved in developing and building programs for Excellist,
Blue Cross Blue Shield's internal employee wellnessprograms. Big intro, But doctor
Hopkins, welcome back to the checkin It. I'm really glad to be
here. Thanks for having me.Yeah, just to remind you of doctor
Hopkins's board certified and Child and AdolescentPsychiatry and Adult Psychiatry by the American Board
(01:34):
of Psychia of Psychiatry and Neurology.He's a member of the Onondaga County Medical
Society and previously served as chair ofthe Department of Psychiatry for Saint Joseph's Hospital
Health Center in Syracuse. He maintainsa private practice too, and provides administrative
support and training for staff for nonfor profit integrated health systems. And we're
going to talk about how we've allhad to change not only what we do,
(01:59):
how we do, but I supposehow we feel about the work that
we do. So, doctor Hopkins, we've heard that expression feeling burned out.
I probably said it to myself,I probably heard my coworkers say it
to themselves. But what exactly isand how do you define from your perspective
employee or workplace burnout. So,for me, when we talk about burnout,
(02:23):
it's primarily something that happens in theworkplace itself, right, It's not
necessarily medical condition or something that happensat home. In fact, the World
Health Organization defines burnout as a chronicworkplace stress that's not been successfully managed.
It's an occupational phenomenon and it isrelated to the work environment. It's important
(02:45):
that we understand work is stressful,and when stress starts to get to be
severe enough and we've depleted our internalresilience, which is that buffer between stress
end burnout, we can develop burnout. Burnout is pretty carefully defined by the
World Health Organization and it's got acouple of key parts to it. It's
(03:07):
important to recognize these. One isif you're feeling emotionally and physically exhausted and
depleted of energy when you're at work. Number two is that if you've got
increased mental and emotional distance from workand from your feelings, and you start
to have like feelings of negativism orcynicism about work, and you feel emotionally
(03:29):
detached when we're not burned out,we're kind of excited to go to work
to get it done and to seeit happens. And when we've got burnout
that we get this emotional distance andwe start to feel negative about work.
Additionally, these things can compound,like when we're exhausted and we're separated from
work, and lead us to havea loss of productivity and even feel incompetent
(03:51):
about work, even if it's somethingthat we actually know how to do.
And that makes it hard to accomplishyour work. It makes it more difficult
when we're not on point, likeit really takes a toll loans. So
these three things can lead to problemswith not wanting to go to work,
using sickly, not being able tobe productive. Eventually, it can even
(04:13):
lead people to want to quit workingsomeplace. How have you seen or maybe
what is the early research showing usabout the changing of work environment and how
that may have contributed to what weclassify as burnout. One might suspect while
I'm working from home, I shouldbe more I should be maybe more excited
about being able to do my workin my pajamas today, or not have
(04:35):
to interact with other people I canjust concentrate on my work. Has the
work environment change started to show anychanges in the research as to how levels
of burnout are within the workforce.Yes, the research is pretty clear and
one of the places that's done alot of research on this is the Kaiser
Family Foundation, and they have foundthat the stressors of the economic recession having
(05:02):
to work remotely and not be sociallyconnected to our work the people we work
with, and that has compounded andled to development of increased levels of burnout
and even mental illness and substance usedisorders. So working remotely and being socially
isolated our specific stressors that really wearpeople down, and that's led you even
(05:26):
people who you know when they're surveyedon Indeed, eighty three percent of respondents
said I feel emotionally drained from work. So when we start to be socially
isolated, we're not able to work. We can then develop this emotional exhaustion,
and that's one of the earliest signsof burnout that we can see.
One wouldn't have suspected that social connectionswould be such an important part of the
(05:47):
work experience. I think maybe wetook those for granted. Pre pandemic,
and then we realized exactly how importantthey were to that not only work life
balance, but just work balance.Having the social interactions and social connections that
can often help to make work feelmore meaningful or you feel more in tune
(06:10):
with it or in touch with theenvironments and the people that you're working with
exactly. I think that one ofthe things that we took for granted because
we're all working in person for ourwhole lives, is that when we get
to connect socially with other people,are peers, people, other adults,
it nourishes a part of us,and that when we're separated from that,
(06:30):
it does take a toll, andit predisposes us to become vulnerable to increased
emotional stress in even developing burnout.And you mentioned some of the symptoms or
signs that can be present when burnoutis manifesting itself. There are physical symptoms
as well as emotional or mental symptoms. It can really impact many different parts
(06:56):
of our body. If we thinkabout burnout stress, we all know that
you know, we've heard the adagethat you know, stress affects us in
all sorts of ways. We thinkabout burnout as a stress you know,
chronic stress condition. It affects ourphysical health, our cognitive abilities, our
emotions, and our behaviors. Likefor example, for our physical health,
it can lead you to have troublegetting good RESTful sleep. It can make
(07:19):
it so it's hard to fall asleep, or the sleep you have may be
disrupted. It can make it hardto digest your food, or you may
be eating too little or too much, and you can have that general feeling
of exhaustion. So it affects Itcertainly affects our physical bodies, and it
also affects our cognition. Right whenwe have burnout, we have a lot
(07:40):
of difficulty thinking clearly. We canhave this foggy feeling with our cognition,
and then we can even start tomake snap decisions without without carefully thinking through
what needs to happen, so thatwe can even have trouble organizing ourselves for
work. So it affects our body. Our mind obviously affects our emotions,
(08:01):
right. It can lead us tohave sad moods. It can lead us
to have anxiety. It can leadpeople to try to numb their emotions with
substances, and it can also evenlead to this thing called compassion fatigue,
where that you kind of get hardenedfeelings and then you feel separated from people
that either your customers or people thatyou're serving or your people that you work
with. Were normally you'd have thislevel of compassion, you might not have
(08:24):
it, and then it can leadto behavior problems right as it can lead
to problems with irritability and easy angering, quick temperedness called a pessimism. And
even if it gets progresses enough,you might even lose interest in yourself and
not take care of yourself. Thisis the community check in and doctor Jeffrey
Hopkins is with us as our guestthis week. He is senior medical director
(08:46):
Behavioral Health with Excelis Blue Cross BlueShield. We are talking about burnout and
as you mentioned, all of thosethings that can potentially happen to someone who
is experiencing levels of burnout. Now, let's compound that on the isolation of
potentially working from home, not havingbeen back in an office setting, working
with those social relationships. Others mightnotice in us things that we wouldn't necessarily
(09:09):
notice, maybe notice in ourselves orcall out behaviors or signs and say are
you okay? Getting someone some additionalhelp. That isolation then can often compound
how fast it might take for someoneto seek appropriate help should they be feeling
any of these things. It's truebecause usually if we're at work, we're
(09:31):
collecting, we're talking about our lives. We're not just talking about our work,
but we check in with each otherand we might even you know,
share a kind word with each other, see if how somebody's doing. And
imagine if you're at work alone athome, you might not even see your
family for the eight hours while you'rein front of the computer, if you're
(09:52):
working in the basement, or you'rein the home, study, or wherever
you are. So it can reallylead to that isolation where normally, if
somebody needed to to notice that somethingwas going on, they could start at
a very early at a very earlytime before it progressed more. Let's look
at and break down some of thesemajor sources of workplace burnout, and there
(10:13):
can be they can vary, differenttypes of work, may have different stressors
that are on them. So theseare general in nature, of course,
but there are several places where sourcesof burnout can come from, and the
sources are pretty universal. We all, i mean everybody does have particular stressors
in their jobs, and some jobsare more stressful than others. But when
(10:35):
they have done the research, likeat the Gallup Poll Center and trying to
identify what are the causes of burnout, they've identified about five major causes,
and one of them is excessive workload. I think that's pretty obvious. You
know, when there's a mismatch betweenwhat you need to get done and how
much time you have to do it, or the resources or equipment you have
(10:58):
to get it done, and there'sa mismatch, that's a major cause of
burnout. Another thing which relates toour development is a lack of control.
Think about yourself when you are achild and becoming an adolescent and an adult.
One of the best things that happensis that we develop a greater sense
of autonomy or control over ourselves.If we're at work and we don't have
(11:20):
any way to determine how we solvethe challenges of the workday or how we
use our time to get work done, we don't have autonomy. That can
really lead to the development of burnout. Because we all do like to be
solving problems on our own. Aswe've talked about before, Joe. If
(11:41):
you don't have a sense of communityat work or social connectiveness, that's another
major cause of workplace stress, andthat can lead to the development of burnout.
And if there's even something like discriminationor intimidation at work, that can
also lead to burnout. So we'vegot really have too much work not being
(12:01):
able to have a determination of howwe do it or when we do it,
if we don't have connection, orif our workplace is toxic, and
then if we don't get recognition orreward for the work we do. We
all benefit from positive reinforcement. Andif we can get recognized for the work
that we are doing and we aredoing, especially in teams, that helps
to propel us to keep working hard. And then, finally, this is
(12:22):
an issue that's become more and morepopular and important, especially in younger generations,
is a mismatch of values. Nowadays, people really do try to pick
work that resonates with their values.If the values of your workplace don't match
you personal values, it can makeit increasingly difficult to come to work and
(12:43):
to participate every day. So thatalso, if our values don't match,
that can be another cause of burningHow have employers been responding to what they
may have seen or some of thethings they may be getting some knowledge on,
and some of the research and theearly research that may be trickling down
(13:03):
through employers to say, Okay,well, how do we need to shift
our behavior to be able to besupportive of our workforce no matter where they
are, whether they are coming infull time or part time, to be
able to start addressing some of thecauses that may have existed within their work
cultures that they may not even haverecognized we're there in the first place.
(13:26):
I think one of the biggest waysis that most large employers have workplace wellness
programs which take an in depth lookat all of the different ways that at
work an employer can cultivate a healthyculture that promotes wellness. So, for
example, one of the things thatworkplaces often do now is try to have
(13:48):
regular team meetings where individuals stop anddo socialize and recognize each other and develop
an ability to know who each otherare, be able to not just have
a meet and breed, but todevelop a close bond with your teammates,
so improving the socialization. Another thingis that a lot of workplace employers try
(14:11):
to build into their work really healthyapproaches such as increasing and having physical activity
drives or developing a wellness mental wellnessand mental wellbeing drives where people talk about
things like how to cultivate mindfulness orhow to practice meditation or yoga, or
how to become more mindful of improvingtheir social connections outside of work. And
(14:37):
then another thing that a lot ofemployers do, like at Blue Cross Blue
Shield, is to address the stigmaassociated with mental health and to reduce that
stigma so that we can talk aboutmental health and mental wellbeing and make sure
that the workplace is mentally healthy,and to make sure that we support mental
healthcare services in for our employees throughemployee assistance programs, and also making sure
(15:05):
that managers are trained to help supportindividuals so that they can connect to mental
well being and behavioral health services whenthey need it. More on workplace burnout
when the community check in with doctorJeffrey Hopkins continues next, everyone deserves to
be cared for and to live well, and at excels Blue Cross Blue Shield,
that's why we're here. Through affordableplan options, community investments, partnerships,
(15:30):
and education, we're working to addressiniquities that made care feel out of
reach for too many people for fartoo long. Because when we build up
communities and break down health barriers,everybody benefits. Learn more at excels BCBS
dot com. Welcome back to ExcellisBlue Cross Blue Shields Community check In.
(15:50):
I'm Joelomonico. Our guest this weekis doctor Jeffrey Hopkins, Senior medical Director
Behavioral Health at Excelis Blue Cross Blueshield. One of the things we discussed
on your last visit with us,but bears repeating, is one of the
unintended good consequences of this pandemic israising the profile of the need to address
to be upfront, honest and openabout mental health. About it's about it,
(16:14):
it's necessity, how to recognize it, how to offer services that are
available, and how to be okaywith talking about it. I think for
too long we have not been okaywith talking about this condition, whereas others
we could be very upfront, openand honest about it if we're dealing with
it. But mental health has beenone that still kind of has lived in
the shadows, and hopefully we're startingto see some breakthrough, perhaps that it's
(16:37):
becoming a more comfortable conversation to havevery much. So it's very interesting to
see, like an Excelis Blue Cross, Blue Shield, our senior leadership really
takes the lead in promoting and havingdiscussions with all of us about, you
know, being careful with our mentalwell being, having access to behavioral health
(16:59):
care services. And you can seethat echoed across industry where that leadership in
general is taking a very strong approachto supporting employees and having discussions to let
people know that it's okay to experiencestress. Sometimes it can progress where you
might need counseling, or you mightneed an evaluation from your primary care physician,
(17:19):
and that this is part of beingpart of the new normal, that
it's okay to seek help if youneed it, and that's a very unintended
consequence. It's incredible and there aresome great resources that are available online health
and wellness resources not only for membersbut for the entire community that may need
some help, and you know,certainly for individuals. Employers that might want
(17:41):
to have conversation starters ways to startbuilding a better workplace for their employees,
and the tools are available for themto start having these conversations or at least
starting to change the culture, whetherit's in person or remote to promote a
healthier work environment. Yes, ifyou go to the Excellis Blue Cross Blue
(18:03):
Shield website, we feature health andwellness resources for our members and the community.
There's information, health tips, fitnessvideos and more. It's important to
know that those reass are out there, they're free, they're available. It's
a value added that we provide Excelisto the community. We have doctor Jeffrey
Hopkins with a Senior medical Director BehavioralHealth with Excelis Blue Cross Blue Shield,
(18:25):
and we're talking about workplace burnout ishow to recognize it, what it is,
and how to build some resiliency.And that's where we want to land
the plane this week. Doctor.We want to talk about the idea of
resiliency, what it means and howto build an increase our personal resiliency.
Resiliency is this thing that allows usto bounce forward, right that when we
(18:47):
have a stressor or something that's difficultfor us to handle, if we've nurtured
our resiliency, we're able to workthrough that difficult time or to handle that
difficult situation. And then on theother side of it, we're different,
but we're also better for it.So there's resiliency is something that we're not
just born with. It's a skillwe develop over time. And there's about
(19:11):
there's five main things that you cando to build your personal resiliency. One
is that you can maintain and strengthenyour social connections, because we've talked about
a cause of burnout is social isolation. The ability to actually strengthen your social
connections both at work and outside ofwork, increases your internal sense of wellness.
(19:33):
Next, you can nurture an optimisticattitude. This doesn't mean looking at
the world through rose colored glasses,but it does mean taking the time to
intentionally look for positivity and joy inyour day as it progresses. If you
can try to nurture that, youcan actually look for things during the day
that are beautiful or joyful or thatbring you gratitude. Practicing self care,
(19:57):
this is taking time to nurture foryourself. This means giving yourself time away
from work and using your vacation.It means setting aside time when you're not
taking care of others as a caregiver. It means taking a mindful attitude towards
your lifestyle, making sure you getrestorative sleep, having healthy eating, improving
(20:18):
your physical activity depending on what yourbodies can do, and also having good
hydration. So and then if youcould develop a purpose driven life, which
is trying to identify what's meaningful toyou and what you'd like to see more
of in your life. That meansfor some of us, that means giving
more to others or others it canbe developing better relationships where our family members
(20:40):
could be nurturing your spiritual health,trying to identify goals internally and working to
promote them. And then finally isusing some tips from positive psychology, developing
a nurturing gratitude, waking up inthe morning and journaling three things that you
feel grateful for, and even usingthings called mindfulness where you try to calm
(21:02):
the body and the mind by justexperiencing what's going on around you in the
moment and it's not being on autopilot. So those are five tips to build
personal resiliency that can help prevent fornow, above and beyond what your employer
is doing to help make the workplacehealthy. And these are things that do
not necessarily have to be large involvedrequire more than just spending a few minutes
(21:27):
with yourself. Quite honestly, youknow, one tends to think that,
oh, if I'm going to workout and build my body, it's going
to take forever and I have toreally put a lot of effort into it.
But really small things can have acumulative effect. It's like getting up
and walking every day, or gettingup and doing some stretching every day.
Over time, you will find thatyou will build it. You will build
(21:48):
flexibility in your body, and youcan build resiliency in your emotional and mental
state just by doing small things,but being consistent. Building it into your
daily schedule so that you can slowly, you know, practice and develop additional
skills to improve your resiliency is probablythe number one thing you can do.
So that you can develop goals likeI'd like to, and then you figure
(22:11):
out ways to achieve them in asmall, meaningsful, regular way, and
that can help you to develop thatresiliency over time which will buffer you from
stress. In our final couple ofminutes, dop D Hopkins, you know,
we are in a new normal,We have a new way of working.
Things will continue to modify and changeas we go over time. But
(22:32):
now is this a perfect opportunity thento start incorporating, as we are in
a new normal, maybe a newwork environment or a new way of working,
some of these habits because once youstart doing things, then they become
just part of a regular routine.Makes it very easy for you to have
it as part of your day andyou're getting a great benefit from it.
(22:53):
We're in an era now where it'sokay to talk about wellness, it's okay
to talk about the lack of wellnessand how can lead to burnout, stress
and even depression and anxiety. AndI think that taking the opportunities now that
we've been presented to be able tobe mindful about shaping our lives and working
with our employers to make healthy workplacesis it's revolutionary and I see it happening
(23:18):
all over And before we depart fourthis week's edition of the Check In,
please remind our community members as wellas Excels Blue Cross Blue Shield members,
where some great tools are available complementaryonline. You can go right to EXCELSBCBS
dot com and look under the healthand Wellness tab, and there you can
(23:41):
find free resources on health tips,fitness videos and also ways to improve your
own well being. That's where youcan find the information last thirty seconds.
How do you help break yourself outof a burnout cycle? Doctor? For
me, it's really working to nurturemy relationships in my community. I'm really
(24:03):
enjoying my neighbors, taking time tobe with my family, getting outdoors.
I love kayaking, I love beingin nature, and also just trying to
take a pause when I'm not atwork to recognize the beauty in the world
around me and really take the timeto notice in well. Hopefully we can
all take a clue from you,no matter what we do and take some
time to notice things as well,slow down, make our mental health a
(24:27):
priority. Doctor Hopkins, thank youso very much for spending time with us
on this week's Community check In.Yeah, it's been a pleasure. Thank
you. Thanks for joining us onCommunity check In a presentation of excel Us
Blue Cross Blue Shield at iHeartRadio.Podcasts of Community check In are available on
the iHeartRadio app or wherever you findyour favorite audio content. For more ways
(24:51):
to stay safe, healthy, andeducated, visit excel Us BCBS dot com
and follow on Instagram and Facebook.
Welcome to excel Us Blue Cross BlueShields Community check In. Each week we
cover a specific topic featuring excel UsBlue Cross Blue Shield experts. You'll get
to know our team as we discussthe latest in healthcare, health education,
and community health. Find us atexcel Us BCBS dot com and follow on
(00:25):
Instagram and Facebook. Hi, I'mJoelomonico and welcome to the check In.
The COVID nineteen pandemic triggered one ofthe most significant changes to the workforce of
our country in generations. Not justour country or the world. Really,
it shifted the workplace for many ofus from an office or a conference room
to a living room or a diningroom, and it all practically happened overnight.
(00:49):
Change of any kind can bring onstress, and if you don't recognize
it, you can lead to gettingburned out. In fact, a recent
study by the employment website Indeed foundthat two thirds of workers Serve said the
pandemic has worsened employee burnout. Withus today and we're pleasure and please add
him back is doctor Jeffrey Hopkins,who's a senior medical director Behavioral Health at
Excelist Blue Cross Blue Shield and doctorHopkins regularly lectures on the topic of employee
(01:14):
burnout at industry forums and gets himselfinvolved in developing and building programs for Excellist,
Blue Cross Blue Shield's internal employee wellnessprograms. Big intro, But doctor
Hopkins, welcome back to the checkin It. I'm really glad to be
here. Thanks for having me.Yeah, just to remind you of doctor
Hopkins's board certified and Child and AdolescentPsychiatry and Adult Psychiatry by the American Board
(01:34):
of Psychia of Psychiatry and Neurology.He's a member of the Onondaga County Medical
Society and previously served as chair ofthe Department of Psychiatry for Saint Joseph's Hospital
Health Center in Syracuse. He maintainsa private practice too, and provides administrative
support and training for staff for nonfor profit integrated health systems. And we're
going to talk about how we've allhad to change not only what we do,
(01:59):
how we do, but I supposehow we feel about the work that
we do. So, doctor Hopkins, we've heard that expression feeling burned out.
I probably said it to myself,I probably heard my coworkers say it
to themselves. But what exactly isand how do you define from your perspective
employee or workplace burnout. So,for me, when we talk about burnout,
(02:23):
it's primarily something that happens in theworkplace itself, right, It's not
necessarily medical condition or something that happensat home. In fact, the World
Health Organization defines burnout as a chronicworkplace stress that's not been successfully managed.
It's an occupational phenomenon and it isrelated to the work environment. It's important
(02:45):
that we understand work is stressful,and when stress starts to get to be
severe enough and we've depleted our internalresilience, which is that buffer between stress
end burnout, we can develop burnout. Burnout is pretty carefully defined by the
World Health Organization and it's got acouple of key parts to it. It's
(03:07):
important to recognize these. One isif you're feeling emotionally and physically exhausted and
depleted of energy when you're at work. Number two is that if you've got
increased mental and emotional distance from workand from your feelings, and you start
to have like feelings of negativism orcynicism about work, and you feel emotionally
(03:29):
detached when we're not burned out,we're kind of excited to go to work
to get it done and to seeit happens. And when we've got burnout
that we get this emotional distance andwe start to feel negative about work.
Additionally, these things can compound,like when we're exhausted and we're separated from
work, and lead us to havea loss of productivity and even feel incompetent
(03:51):
about work, even if it's somethingthat we actually know how to do.
And that makes it hard to accomplishyour work. It makes it more difficult
when we're not on point, likeit really takes a toll loans. So
these three things can lead to problemswith not wanting to go to work,
using sickly, not being able tobe productive. Eventually, it can even
(04:13):
lead people to want to quit workingsomeplace. How have you seen or maybe
what is the early research showing usabout the changing of work environment and how
that may have contributed to what weclassify as burnout. One might suspect while
I'm working from home, I shouldbe more I should be maybe more excited
about being able to do my workin my pajamas today, or not have
(04:35):
to interact with other people I canjust concentrate on my work. Has the
work environment change started to show anychanges in the research as to how levels
of burnout are within the workforce.Yes, the research is pretty clear and
one of the places that's done alot of research on this is the Kaiser
Family Foundation, and they have foundthat the stressors of the economic recession having
(05:02):
to work remotely and not be sociallyconnected to our work the people we work
with, and that has compounded andled to development of increased levels of burnout
and even mental illness and substance usedisorders. So working remotely and being socially
isolated our specific stressors that really wearpeople down, and that's led you even
(05:26):
people who you know when they're surveyedon Indeed, eighty three percent of respondents
said I feel emotionally drained from work. So when we start to be socially
isolated, we're not able to work. We can then develop this emotional exhaustion,
and that's one of the earliest signsof burnout that we can see.
One wouldn't have suspected that social connectionswould be such an important part of the
(05:47):
work experience. I think maybe wetook those for granted. Pre pandemic,
and then we realized exactly how importantthey were to that not only work life
balance, but just work balance.Having the social interactions and social connections that
can often help to make work feelmore meaningful or you feel more in tune
(06:10):
with it or in touch with theenvironments and the people that you're working with
exactly. I think that one ofthe things that we took for granted because
we're all working in person for ourwhole lives, is that when we get
to connect socially with other people,are peers, people, other adults,
it nourishes a part of us,and that when we're separated from that,
(06:30):
it does take a toll, andit predisposes us to become vulnerable to increased
emotional stress in even developing burnout.And you mentioned some of the symptoms or
signs that can be present when burnoutis manifesting itself. There are physical symptoms
as well as emotional or mental symptoms. It can really impact many different parts
(06:56):
of our body. If we thinkabout burnout stress, we all know that
you know, we've heard the adagethat you know, stress affects us in
all sorts of ways. We thinkabout burnout as a stress you know,
chronic stress condition. It affects ourphysical health, our cognitive abilities, our
emotions, and our behaviors. Likefor example, for our physical health,
it can lead you to have troublegetting good RESTful sleep. It can make
(07:19):
it so it's hard to fall asleep, or the sleep you have may be
disrupted. It can make it hardto digest your food, or you may
be eating too little or too much, and you can have that general feeling
of exhaustion. So it affects Itcertainly affects our physical bodies, and it
also affects our cognition. Right whenwe have burnout, we have a lot
(07:40):
of difficulty thinking clearly. We canhave this foggy feeling with our cognition,
and then we can even start tomake snap decisions without without carefully thinking through
what needs to happen, so thatwe can even have trouble organizing ourselves for
work. So it affects our body. Our mind obviously affects our emotions,
(08:01):
right. It can lead us tohave sad moods. It can lead us
to have anxiety. It can leadpeople to try to numb their emotions with
substances, and it can also evenlead to this thing called compassion fatigue,
where that you kind of get hardenedfeelings and then you feel separated from people
that either your customers or people thatyou're serving or your people that you work
with. Were normally you'd have thislevel of compassion, you might not have
(08:24):
it, and then it can leadto behavior problems right as it can lead
to problems with irritability and easy angering, quick temperedness called a pessimism. And
even if it gets progresses enough,you might even lose interest in yourself and
not take care of yourself. Thisis the community check in and doctor Jeffrey
Hopkins is with us as our guestthis week. He is senior medical director
(08:46):
Behavioral Health with Excelis Blue Cross BlueShield. We are talking about burnout and
as you mentioned, all of thosethings that can potentially happen to someone who
is experiencing levels of burnout. Now, let's compound that on the isolation of
potentially working from home, not havingbeen back in an office setting, working
with those social relationships. Others mightnotice in us things that we wouldn't necessarily
(09:09):
notice, maybe notice in ourselves orcall out behaviors or signs and say are
you okay? Getting someone some additionalhelp. That isolation then can often compound
how fast it might take for someoneto seek appropriate help should they be feeling
any of these things. It's truebecause usually if we're at work, we're
(09:31):
collecting, we're talking about our lives. We're not just talking about our work,
but we check in with each otherand we might even you know,
share a kind word with each other, see if how somebody's doing. And
imagine if you're at work alone athome, you might not even see your
family for the eight hours while you'rein front of the computer, if you're
(09:52):
working in the basement, or you'rein the home, study, or wherever
you are. So it can reallylead to that isolation where normally, if
somebody needed to to notice that somethingwas going on, they could start at
a very early at a very earlytime before it progressed more. Let's look
at and break down some of thesemajor sources of workplace burnout, and there
(10:13):
can be they can vary, differenttypes of work, may have different stressors
that are on them. So theseare general in nature, of course,
but there are several places where sourcesof burnout can come from, and the
sources are pretty universal. We all, i mean everybody does have particular stressors
in their jobs, and some jobsare more stressful than others. But when
(10:35):
they have done the research, likeat the Gallup Poll Center and trying to
identify what are the causes of burnout, they've identified about five major causes,
and one of them is excessive workload. I think that's pretty obvious. You
know, when there's a mismatch betweenwhat you need to get done and how
much time you have to do it, or the resources or equipment you have
(10:58):
to get it done, and there'sa mismatch, that's a major cause of
burnout. Another thing which relates toour development is a lack of control.
Think about yourself when you are achild and becoming an adolescent and an adult.
One of the best things that happensis that we develop a greater sense
of autonomy or control over ourselves.If we're at work and we don't have
(11:20):
any way to determine how we solvethe challenges of the workday or how we
use our time to get work done, we don't have autonomy. That can
really lead to the development of burnout. Because we all do like to be
solving problems on our own. Aswe've talked about before, Joe. If
(11:41):
you don't have a sense of communityat work or social connectiveness, that's another
major cause of workplace stress, andthat can lead to the development of burnout.
And if there's even something like discriminationor intimidation at work, that can
also lead to burnout. So we'vegot really have too much work not being
(12:01):
able to have a determination of howwe do it or when we do it,
if we don't have connection, orif our workplace is toxic, and
then if we don't get recognition orreward for the work we do. We
all benefit from positive reinforcement. Andif we can get recognized for the work
that we are doing and we aredoing, especially in teams, that helps
to propel us to keep working hard. And then, finally, this is
(12:22):
an issue that's become more and morepopular and important, especially in younger generations,
is a mismatch of values. Nowadays, people really do try to pick
work that resonates with their values.If the values of your workplace don't match
you personal values, it can makeit increasingly difficult to come to work and
(12:43):
to participate every day. So thatalso, if our values don't match,
that can be another cause of burningHow have employers been responding to what they
may have seen or some of thethings they may be getting some knowledge on,
and some of the research and theearly research that may be trickling down
(13:03):
through employers to say, Okay,well, how do we need to shift
our behavior to be able to besupportive of our workforce no matter where they
are, whether they are coming infull time or part time, to be
able to start addressing some of thecauses that may have existed within their work
cultures that they may not even haverecognized we're there in the first place.
(13:26):
I think one of the biggest waysis that most large employers have workplace wellness
programs which take an in depth lookat all of the different ways that at
work an employer can cultivate a healthyculture that promotes wellness. So, for
example, one of the things thatworkplaces often do now is try to have
(13:48):
regular team meetings where individuals stop anddo socialize and recognize each other and develop
an ability to know who each otherare, be able to not just have
a meet and breed, but todevelop a close bond with your teammates,
so improving the socialization. Another thingis that a lot of workplace employers try
(14:11):
to build into their work really healthyapproaches such as increasing and having physical activity
drives or developing a wellness mental wellnessand mental wellbeing drives where people talk about
things like how to cultivate mindfulness orhow to practice meditation or yoga, or
how to become more mindful of improvingtheir social connections outside of work. And
(14:37):
then another thing that a lot ofemployers do, like at Blue Cross Blue
Shield, is to address the stigmaassociated with mental health and to reduce that
stigma so that we can talk aboutmental health and mental wellbeing and make sure
that the workplace is mentally healthy,and to make sure that we support mental
healthcare services in for our employees throughemployee assistance programs, and also making sure
(15:05):
that managers are trained to help supportindividuals so that they can connect to mental
well being and behavioral health services whenthey need it. More on workplace burnout
when the community check in with doctorJeffrey Hopkins continues next, everyone deserves to
be cared for and to live well, and at excels Blue Cross Blue Shield,
that's why we're here. Through affordableplan options, community investments, partnerships,
(15:30):
and education, we're working to addressiniquities that made care feel out of
reach for too many people for fartoo long. Because when we build up
communities and break down health barriers,everybody benefits. Learn more at excels BCBS
dot com. Welcome back to ExcellisBlue Cross Blue Shields Community check In.
(15:50):
I'm Joelomonico. Our guest this weekis doctor Jeffrey Hopkins, Senior medical Director
Behavioral Health at Excelis Blue Cross Blueshield. One of the things we discussed
on your last visit with us,but bears repeating, is one of the
unintended good consequences of this pandemic israising the profile of the need to address
to be upfront, honest and openabout mental health. About it's about it,
(16:14):
it's necessity, how to recognize it, how to offer services that are
available, and how to be okaywith talking about it. I think for
too long we have not been okaywith talking about this condition, whereas others
we could be very upfront, openand honest about it if we're dealing with
it. But mental health has beenone that still kind of has lived in
the shadows, and hopefully we're startingto see some breakthrough, perhaps that it's
(16:37):
becoming a more comfortable conversation to havevery much. So it's very interesting to
see, like an Excelis Blue Cross, Blue Shield, our senior leadership really
takes the lead in promoting and havingdiscussions with all of us about, you
know, being careful with our mentalwell being, having access to behavioral health
(16:59):
care services. And you can seethat echoed across industry where that leadership in
general is taking a very strong approachto supporting employees and having discussions to let
people know that it's okay to experiencestress. Sometimes it can progress where you
might need counseling, or you mightneed an evaluation from your primary care physician,
(17:19):
and that this is part of beingpart of the new normal, that
it's okay to seek help if youneed it, and that's a very unintended
consequence. It's incredible and there aresome great resources that are available online health
and wellness resources not only for membersbut for the entire community that may need
some help, and you know,certainly for individuals. Employers that might want
(17:41):
to have conversation starters ways to startbuilding a better workplace for their employees,
and the tools are available for themto start having these conversations or at least
starting to change the culture, whetherit's in person or remote to promote a
healthier work environment. Yes, ifyou go to the Excellis Blue Cross Blue
(18:03):
Shield website, we feature health andwellness resources for our members and the community.
There's information, health tips, fitnessvideos and more. It's important to
know that those reass are out there, they're free, they're available. It's
a value added that we provide Excelisto the community. We have doctor Jeffrey
Hopkins with a Senior medical Director BehavioralHealth with Excelis Blue Cross Blue Shield,
(18:25):
and we're talking about workplace burnout ishow to recognize it, what it is,
and how to build some resiliency.And that's where we want to land
the plane this week. Doctor.We want to talk about the idea of
resiliency, what it means and howto build an increase our personal resiliency.
Resiliency is this thing that allows usto bounce forward, right that when we
(18:47):
have a stressor or something that's difficultfor us to handle, if we've nurtured
our resiliency, we're able to workthrough that difficult time or to handle that
difficult situation. And then on theother side of it, we're different,
but we're also better for it.So there's resiliency is something that we're not
just born with. It's a skillwe develop over time. And there's about
(19:11):
there's five main things that you cando to build your personal resiliency. One
is that you can maintain and strengthenyour social connections, because we've talked about
a cause of burnout is social isolation. The ability to actually strengthen your social
connections both at work and outside ofwork, increases your internal sense of wellness.
(19:33):
Next, you can nurture an optimisticattitude. This doesn't mean looking at
the world through rose colored glasses,but it does mean taking the time to
intentionally look for positivity and joy inyour day as it progresses. If you
can try to nurture that, youcan actually look for things during the day
that are beautiful or joyful or thatbring you gratitude. Practicing self care,
(19:57):
this is taking time to nurture foryourself. This means giving yourself time away
from work and using your vacation.It means setting aside time when you're not
taking care of others as a caregiver. It means taking a mindful attitude towards
your lifestyle, making sure you getrestorative sleep, having healthy eating, improving
(20:18):
your physical activity depending on what yourbodies can do, and also having good
hydration. So and then if youcould develop a purpose driven life, which
is trying to identify what's meaningful toyou and what you'd like to see more
of in your life. That meansfor some of us, that means giving
more to others or others it canbe developing better relationships where our family members
(20:40):
could be nurturing your spiritual health,trying to identify goals internally and working to
promote them. And then finally isusing some tips from positive psychology, developing
a nurturing gratitude, waking up inthe morning and journaling three things that you
feel grateful for, and even usingthings called mindfulness where you try to calm
(21:02):
the body and the mind by justexperiencing what's going on around you in the
moment and it's not being on autopilot. So those are five tips to build
personal resiliency that can help prevent fornow, above and beyond what your employer
is doing to help make the workplacehealthy. And these are things that do
not necessarily have to be large involvedrequire more than just spending a few minutes
(21:27):
with yourself. Quite honestly, youknow, one tends to think that,
oh, if I'm going to workout and build my body, it's going
to take forever and I have toreally put a lot of effort into it.
But really small things can have acumulative effect. It's like getting up
and walking every day, or gettingup and doing some stretching every day.
Over time, you will find thatyou will build it. You will build
(21:48):
flexibility in your body, and youcan build resiliency in your emotional and mental
state just by doing small things,but being consistent. Building it into your
daily schedule so that you can slowly, you know, practice and develop additional
skills to improve your resiliency is probablythe number one thing you can do.
So that you can develop goals likeI'd like to, and then you figure
(22:11):
out ways to achieve them in asmall, meaningsful, regular way, and
that can help you to develop thatresiliency over time which will buffer you from
stress. In our final couple ofminutes, dop D Hopkins, you know,
we are in a new normal,We have a new way of working.
Things will continue to modify and changeas we go over time. But
(22:32):
now is this a perfect opportunity thento start incorporating, as we are in
a new normal, maybe a newwork environment or a new way of working,
some of these habits because once youstart doing things, then they become
just part of a regular routine.Makes it very easy for you to have
it as part of your day andyou're getting a great benefit from it.
(22:53):
We're in an era now where it'sokay to talk about wellness, it's okay
to talk about the lack of wellnessand how can lead to burnout, stress
and even depression and anxiety. AndI think that taking the opportunities now that
we've been presented to be able tobe mindful about shaping our lives and working
with our employers to make healthy workplacesis it's revolutionary and I see it happening
(23:18):
all over And before we depart fourthis week's edition of the Check In,
please remind our community members as wellas Excels Blue Cross Blue Shield members,
where some great tools are available complementaryonline. You can go right to EXCELSBCBS
dot com and look under the healthand Wellness tab, and there you can
(23:41):
find free resources on health tips,fitness videos and also ways to improve your
own well being. That's where youcan find the information last thirty seconds.
How do you help break yourself outof a burnout cycle? Doctor? For
me, it's really working to nurturemy relationships in my community. I'm really
(24:03):
enjoying my neighbors, taking time tobe with my family, getting outdoors.
I love kayaking, I love beingin nature, and also just trying to
take a pause when I'm not atwork to recognize the beauty in the world
around me and really take the timeto notice in well. Hopefully we can
all take a clue from you,no matter what we do and take some
time to notice things as well,slow down, make our mental health a
(24:27):
priority. Doctor Hopkins, thank youso very much for spending time with us
on this week's Community check In.Yeah, it's been a pleasure. Thank
you. Thanks for joining us onCommunity check In a presentation of excel Us
Blue Cross Blue Shield at iHeartRadio.Podcasts of Community check In are available on
the iHeartRadio app or wherever you findyour favorite audio content. For more ways
(24:51):
to stay safe, healthy, andeducated, visit excel Us BCBS dot com
and follow on Instagram and Facebook.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com